Royal Engaygement
by homesweethomicide13
Summary: Doom's high status is in jeopardy, and to keep it he must marry someone of equal or higher position. However, no one suspects his new significant other... LiefJasmine and faked BardaDoom.


**Title:** Royal Engaygement  
**Author:** homesweethomicide13  
**Rating:** T for now  
**Warnings:** Bad language, hints of Shounen-ai/Yaoi  
**Pairing:** Faked Barda x Doom, Lief x Jasmine  
**Disclaimer:** Must I do this every time? I. Do. Not. Own.  
**Summary:** Doom's status in the palace is in jeopardy, and he consults Sharn on how he can keep his high status and still work in the city forge. She comes up with an idea that might work – all Doom has to do is remarry, but the one he marries must be somehow linked with another high status in the palace. However, even Sharn does not expect Doom's new significant other…**Category One:** Humour  
**Category Two:** Romance

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Chapter One: Problem? Problem Solved.

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Doom paced his bedroom wearily, running a hand through his unruly hair every time he changed direction. He swore that the carpet beneath his feet was slowly wearing away. And yet he could not seem to stop. If anyone were watching him, they'd be able to tell that Doom was in a state of stress, and mild panic. His usually emotionless green eyes were filled with worry, and he looked tired and much, much older. Finally, as though his legs had told him they were about to give out, he moved and sat down on his bed. Leaning his elbows on his knees, he covered his face with his hands and sighed. In his head, he was running over the previous afternoon, and the issue that had caused him to be so uncharacteristically worried. 

"Doom, it has come to our attention that you are spending a lot more time in the city forge. As you may know, we have rules and expectations here in the palace. We expect our citizens to put all of their faith into their position, and not to stray from said position."

_"I know this, but why am I here? What is the problem with a little city work?"_

_"I think we have made it quite clear why you are standing before us now, Doom. You are not entirely faithful to your position at the palace. Currently, you are ranked among the highest nobles due to your relation to Queen Jasmine. However, there are other lower ranked citizens who would be very grateful to take the position you hold, and we have good reason to suspend you from said position, and then pass it on to someone more… loyal, shall we say?"_

_"I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at here."_

_"Doom, if it is in your interest to work on a daily basis at the forge, then that is your affair, but we need to know that you are entirely faithful in your position. There are ways that you can prove this, but it is __**not**__ in our interest to inform you of these ways. Unless you come forth to us within the next month with a reason, and evidence, that you are loyal to the palace, we will relieve you of your position. Is this understood?"_

_"Perfectly."_

Now he sat, contemplating the ways in which he could prove to them that he was still worthy of his position in the palace. He had thought of the inevitable – he could just stop working at the forge, after all. But after a moment's thought he realized that that was not an option. He loved working at the forge, and he would not give it up for anything. But he couldn't just leave the palace, either. Jasmine was his daughter, and he had every right to be with her. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

"Sharn! She's bound to know about these things. I'll simply ask her how I can keep my position." He got up and strode to the door, looking like a strong and determined man once more. After a brief conversation with a nearby palace guard, Doom had his destination, and he made his way to one of Sharn's haunts – the sewing room. He knocked politely on the door, as he always did around Sharn, and waited for her response. When she called him in, he opened the door and stepped inside.

The room was very well decorated, with beautiful tapestries decorating the walls. A neatly woven rug was centred in the middle of the floor, and drew people's attention to it at a first glance. What struck Doom most was the fact he knew that rug. He had seen it being made in the hands of someone he once held very dear.

This had been Min's sewing room, after all.

Sharn looked up from her newest work and smiled at him. Doom couldn't help but return the smile, even if his was a little more nervous and unsure than hers. Sharn was still beautiful despite her long years, and Doom often wondered whether that was the magic of Tora or not.

"Ah, Doom. What can I do for you?" She asked him with another polite smile. Doom sighed.

"How much do you know about the ways of the palace?"

"Why, my fair share I'd say. Is there something you want to know, Doom?" Doom ran a hand through his hair again.

"I have a bit of a dilemma, Sharn." He sat down in a nearby chair. "Apparently I've been spending too much time in the forge, and my status in the palace is in jeopardy. If I don't come up with proof that I am committed to my position, they're going to take it from me, and I can't be separated from my daughter unless I have decided it." Sharn looked at Doom for a moment, surprised, and then breathed out slowly.

"Well… that's certainly a surprise." She said after a moment of brief silence. "I am assuming you want help with how to prove your faith, hmm?"

"Yes. I considered leaving the forge work to somebody else, but I could never do that. Are there any other ways?" Sharn sat in thought for a moment.

"I can think of one way to secure your position Doom, but you may not like it." She said to him.

"What is it? I'm in the right mind to consider anything right now."

"If you were to marry someone in an equally high position as yourself, you suddenly develop a palace life that you must be completely dedicated to. On the side, you can still work in the forge without fear of losing your position."

"Is marriage the only solution?"

"I'm afraid so, Doom. I can't think of anything else."

x

"She makes it sound so easy, when in reality it's not. I mean, first I have to find a single woman of high status who would be willing to marry me. They're hard to find, considering most women gain their status by marrying a highly ranked man." Doom grumbled to himself once he was back in his room. "The only woman I can think of is Sharn, and I doubt that would sit too well with Lief."

He sat down on his bed again to stop himself from continually wearing out the carpet and sighed in frustration. He glanced at his bedside table and his eyes caught sight of the paper he had been reading that morning. He'd skimmed past that one particular page this morning because it hadn't meant anything to him, but now he looked at it with new eyes.

**King Lief pronounces all same-sex marriages are officially legal.**

It was perfect! Sharn did not say his new significant other had to be a woman! There were plenty of single, highly ranked men these days. However, there was still a slight problem. Finding one willing to marry him might not be too hard, but getting people to believe he was actually physically attracted to a man was going to be tough.

He'd never even thought about men that way before. In fact, he was pretty certain that he wasn't at all attracted to members of the same sex. If he was going to fake a marriage with a man, he had to be pretty damn convincing.

But who was he going to choose? He had to find a man willing to fake a marriage with him first. A man who had a high enough rank for his own rank to stay put. He got up and crossed the room, looking at the collection of pictures that he had been given. Most were of Jasmine and himself together, as father and daughter, but there were others too; Lief and Sharn, Lief and Jasmine, group shots, and a nice picture of Lief, Jasmine and Barda.

Doom's eyes snapped back to Barda's face and an idea light bulb went off above his head. It was a perfect match! Barda was a highly ranked single man with possibly a higher rank than Doom's current one, and getting Barda to fake a marriage was going to be easy, right? After all, he had saved Barda's life once – though all he had really done was helped them escape the Grey Guards who had captured them.

Ripping the page from the paper, he went in search of Barda.

x

When Doom stood outside Barda's office, he began to have doubts. Did he really want this sort of thing out in the open? Especially since Barda was so withdrawn and kept to himself. No, he had to do it. For the sake of Jasmine. He knocked on the door, his heart pounding in his chest.

"What?" Came the growling response. Smirking a little at the typical Barda response, Doom opened the door and went into the office. Barda looked up from his overly sized desk, and raised an eyebrow. "Not often you visit me at work, Doom." And at work he was. Stacks of paper decorated the desk, and there were files and folders in various spaces in between. What looked like a report was in front of him, and he had a quill poised over the paper.

"I… I need to talk to you about something."

"Take a seat, but make it quick. I have a lot to get through." He rested the quill in a tall, thin glass of water and capped the bottle of ink he had been using. He gestured with a free hand at the stacks of papers. "The new reports from the Academy. I have to read through every single one of them."

"I'll try not to take up too much of your time." Doom said, closing the door behind him and sitting uncomfortably in the seat opposite Barda. The Chief of the Guards leant back in his chair and waited for Doom to continue. "I think we should get married."

"WHAT?" The cool, calm and relaxed air that Barda had been giving off suddenly disappeared, and shock mixed with surprise crossed his face.

"Let me explain a little." Doom said quickly, afraid that the big man was going to punch him or something similar. "I need something to secure my status in the palace, otherwise they're going to sort of, kick me out, so to speak. The only way Sharn and I could think up was for me to marry someone of equal or higher rank to secure my position."

"Hmm, that is a definite way to do it." Barda narrowed his eyes. "But why do I have to marry you? I'm sure there are plenty of women out there."

"Barda, you and I both know there isn't. Besides, it's not as if we're really getting married. We're going to fake it."

"You do realize if you get found out then they'll lock you up, right?" Doom sighed.

"I've thought through everything, Barda. They're not going to find out! Trust me, people are probably expecting it of us." Barda frowned dangerously. "Not that I'm saying you come off as, well… gay… but, you're so withdrawn that people might… I don't know… they might assume that you're hiding something, especially since you never seem to be interested in taking a wife, or other female partner."

"I am well aware of my love life, Doom." Barda drawled. Doom sighed again.

"Please Barda, if I don't do this, they'll kick me out, and I need to be here for Jasmine. It's why I'm doing this. I'm doing it for my daughter, Barda!" Barda closed his eyes and frowned slightly, and for a moment Doom thought he was going to refuse. He was busy working up more reasons for him to accept when Barda finally replied.

"Alright, what do I need to do?"

"But Barda, I… wait, what?" Barda opened his eyes and smiled slightly.

"I asked you what I need to do. You know, to make this thing official." Doom gaped at him for a moment.

"Uh, well… I don't know. I guess us getting engaged would be the first thing to do… I mean, we can say that we've been together for a while now, and kept it a secret. Us getting engaged would… I don't know… be a way to finally tell everyone?" He suggested. Barda nodded slightly.

"That would be a start, yes. However… how are we going to tell people? Neither of us are particularly the right characters to just stand up and announce it."

"You're right. Jeez this is more complicated than I thought." Doom murmured.

"Here's an idea." Barda said quickly. "Since we're both very reserved men, we'd probably slip it in bit by bit, for example, start showing physical affection in public, but nothing too much. Just a touch of the hands or something similar. Then, as people get used to it, we take it up a notch. When someone finally asks about it, we tell them we're engaged." Doom nodded.

"We'll need a good story, in case they ask questions. When we first realized our love for each other, when we actually became a couple, stuff like that. We'll need to know every little detail about each other, since that's what most intimate couples are like. And I guess we're going to have to act like we're attracted to each other… you know… sexually." Barda grimaced slightly.

"Please, don't put that thought into my head. After this load is done, I have to meet with my officers and I do not need to be distracted by things I would rather not think about." He sighed. "Look, I'm really busy right now, but we'll discuss this later this evening. If we're going to be engaged, due to be married, we have a lot to go over." Barda stood up and walked around his desk. "Come back here after this evening's meal is finished, and we'll talk then." He opened the door and Doom nodded, getting up to leave. Outside, palace guards walked by, some leaving for their shift, others returning for their break. As Doom walked through the door, he turned and looked at Barda, who received the silent message and put a hand on Doom's arm. "I'll see you later." He murmured, just loud enough for the passing guards to hear.

"I'll look forward to it." Doom replied, trying to keep his voice even. Then with a quick smile, he turned and almost ran from the area. Smirking, Barda turned and went back into his office.

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Author's Note: 

This was just a random idea me and my friend came up with after seeing (I Now Pronounce You) Chuck and Larry, but I do intend to carry it on seriously. Please review! I love reviews... :) Oh, and this WILL differ quite a bit from Chuck and Larry, don't worry. I'm not copying it, still, just in case... Chuck and Larry is copyright to whoever made it. -shrug- No idea who that was.


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